Budget 2019 debate: SAFTI City, new NS Hub by 2023, says Ng Eng Hen
A wired training ground the size of Bishan, with urban settings and real-time tracking of soldiers via video cameras and battlefield instrumentation, as well as a new one-stop centre for National Service-related services, will be built by 2023, said Defence Minister Dr Ng Eng Hen on Friday (1 March).
Speaking during the Committee of Supply (COS) debate in Parliament, Dr Ng said that the upcoming SAFTI City will complement traditional training grounds such as FOFO Hill, Pengkang Hill, the Pasir Laba Boat Shed, and Elephant Hill.
“(It) will be a wired city, with greater use of simulation and detailed monitoring, to help our soldiers to learn better,” said Dr Ng. The 60-year-old added with a smile, “It will be a far cry from the days when we did our NS and charged up hills or against enemy battalions shouting, ‘Bang bang bang bang bang!'”
“And they shouted ‘Bang bang bang bang!’ back,” added Dr Ng to laughter from the House.
In 2017, Dr Ng had said that the 88-hectare SAFTI City would be a revamp of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) western SAFTI training area, at a cost of about $900 million. It will have extensive road networks and more than 200 buildings “of varying heights and types”, said Dr Ng.
SAFTI City will allow training for homeland security operations, counter-terrorism operations, urban operations, disaster relief operations and island defence.
“I am glad to report that SAFTI City is taking shape and on schedule. More roads and bridges are being built so that motorised and mechanised troops in Army vehicles can start training there this year,” said the Minister.
Construction will also begin this year on the NS Hub, a central facility to better respond to the needs of the NS community. To be located opposite Cashew MRT station, it will bring together different services, which are now scattered across the island.
“For example, today, some pre-enlistees take their IPPT at Toa Payoh Stadium, pre-enlist at Depot Road Central Manpower Base, and then attend medical reviews at the Military Medicine Institute in Kent Ridge. The new NS Hub will place all services into one complex,” said Dr Ng.
“The NS Hub will be built as a smart complex using modern technology for a seamless, user-friendly experience.”
Separately, the Minister announced an expansion of the training areas in Shoalwater Bay and Townsville Region, Australia, where thousands of NSMen train every year as part of Exercise Wallaby. Larger training spaces are needed for realistic training, explained Dr Ng.
“Under the Singapore-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, new facilities such as Instrumented Combined Arms Air Land Ranges and Urban Operations Live-Firing Facilities are on track to being built.”
When the facilities are completed over the coming years, we will be able to train large bodies of troops for up to 18 weeks annually, a significant increase from the current 6-7 weeks.”
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